Real Estate

Spring District site picked for rail yard

BELLEVUE — Sound Transit's board yesterday said it wants to put a 25-acre light rail operations and maintenance facility in Bellevue near the Spring District, where a transit-oriented development is planned.

The new facility is estimated to cost between $345 million and $415 million.

The site is west of 120th Avenue Northeast adjacent to railroad tracks on land that Sound Transit partially owns. A final decision will come likely by fall 2015 once a final environmental impact statement is done.

Sound Transit plans to look at several Urban Land Institute recommendations for encouraging development around the facility.

The agency wants to start construction in 2017 and open in 2020.

Sound Transit's fleet will nearly triple in size from 62 to 180 cars, and will outgrow the current maintenance center in Seattle, which can handle up to 104 cars.